Biometric Sensor And Heart Function Monitoring Apparatus

Abstract

A heartbeat monitoring circuit shares one electrode with another device, such as a biometric sensor, and a second electrode that may be a dedicated element or form a part of the case of the apparatus in which the circuit is housed. When operated as an electrode for the heartbeat monitoring circuit, the biometric sensor is contacted by the user's finger while the second electrode is contacted by another part of the user's body, such as a finger on the hand holding the apparatus (e.g., cell phone). Contact may then simply and naturally be made on either side of the user's heart, and ideal arrangement for parametric heart data acquisition. A third electrode may optionally be provided. Data analysis may be performed on the apparatus or by a remote optional processing center.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.